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The Key to Link Lists and 15 Focused Resource Link Lists

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About Mixing Love and Currency

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Noticing the purpose of a list — who it serves — establishes who values it and for how much. Lists of blogs can be useful or empty. When we build one, it helps to be sure we we know our intent. Andy Sernovitz passes on a great message in his book World of Mouth Marketing, and he also said it at SOBCon07.

Mixing love and money is usually a bad idea.

The Key to Link Lists

Think about link lists. The key to offering a link list that adds value, not just noise is in its intent and usefulness to readers.

An outstanding link list offers readers

  • links the blogger has researched and visited
  • clear anchor text in the links
  • a description of each link
  • a reason for recommending the links, as appropriate
  • a compelling reasons for readers to care

Link lists that serve readers attract relationships as well as backlinks.

A Word about Link Trains Link trains and other meme lists can offer a quick jump in statistics. However, they do this by making forced links — links that didn’t happen through the natural passing on of content. Though the intent may be generous, such meme-lists often get extended without review. They can become a list of blogs compiled to gain rank and without regard to the quality of the list.

Some lists are meant to gain backlinks, page rank or authority may garnering more traffic. Yet the traffic that comes finds a content empty list. So the traffic doesn’t stay. A blogger can start building more lists to continue getting traffic. It’s about traffic not readers. Content has gone away.

15 Focused Resource Link Lists

Resource lists are organized to offer relevant and focused resources to readers. These lists require work beyond coding to exist. Most of these lists are generated by research, formed from the opinion of bloggers, result from a test or algorithm, or are the product of a group project.

Here are 15 examples organized by type.

Group Projects

Awards and Subject Lists

Top 5, 10, 25, etc. Lists

  • 100 Blogs We Love by PCWorld
    Here are our favorite stops in the blogosphere, covering everything from high tech to low comedy and all manner of pursuits in between.
  • Webware 100 – Top 100 Web Applications
    These are the best Web applications there are. We know because you told us.
  • Top 10 Most Practical Blogs for Entrepreneurs
    Scott Allen’s service is “To help you filter that infoglut down to a more manageable level, here is my list of the ten most practical blogs for entrepreneurs.”
  • Top 10 CEO Blogs
    Mario Sundar describes his list, “if you want to get a feel for some big-time thinkers espouse their company’s strategy a bit, then maybe the following ten may be worth a ride. Here goes, my Top 10 CEO blogs . . .”
  • The Top 10 Sports Blogs According to Me
    With all due respect to Ballhype and with full awareness that I’m going with my gut over, you know, actual data, I think my top-10 list holds up, even if it is just a subjective-yet-educated list based on perceived traffic, quality and notoriety.

A list of resource links with ancedotal information makes it easier for readers to find the useful bit and move on. Offering resources that make life easier is a service worth offering. Finding ways to organize the list to help readers save time is a sign of respect and service they’ll notice.

Have you seen a remarkable link post? What sort of link posts do you appreciate? Which ones get you to click away as soon as you see them?

— ME “Liz” Strauss
Can you list the reasons to Work with Liz? Too many. It’s such a good idea.